The data seem to indicate we're at a point where entrepreneurs definitely think they need to be in social media. CEOs are pouring more time and money into it -- nearly half spend over six hours a week at it, and another quarter of respondents spend six to ten hours posting to various social-media sites.

But one-third of the business owners said they'd like to spend less time on it, likely an indicator that results are disappointing. If social media marketing was stampeding clients in the door, who would want to cut back?

Yet marketing budgets for social media are exploding. Four times as many owners said they are increasing their social-media marketing budget as said they are decreasing it. Maybe that money will pay to outsource more social media work and free up CEOs' time.

What do business owners do in social media? Mostly Facebook updates -- two-thirds are regulars on that platform. About half are regular users of Twitter. Google+ and Pinterest have yet to catch on with small business owners in a big way.

One point that surprised me: Half of the business owners said they never use LinkedIn. Since many respondents are solopreneurs, I think that's a mistake.

My experience as a solo owner of my own freelance writing and coaching business is that LinkedIn is the online phone book for hiring solopreneurs. Heavyweight companies do searches on there every day, looking for providers to hire.

Seems foolish not to have a presence on LinkedIn, especially when the platform demands so much less of you than Facebook or Twitter. A weekly status update and maybe a few questions answered or comments made in groups, and you're good. But only six percent of owners said they're on LinkedIn once a week, and others were there even less.

One of the big problems facing many owners is lack of quality content to share with their social media peeps -- and lack of time to create that great stuff that viral dreams are made of. Only just over half the owners reported they have a blog, which makes you wonder what the others are sharing that builds their brand (hopefully not nothing but "buy our stuff now!" type messages).

The bloggers reported they spend hours on their posts -- 45 percent said one to three hours a week, and 16 percent more than three hours. Finding good content to share in social media was the biggest time commitment of any social-media task, in the survey.

What's the return on investment for all this time? Most businesses don't know. Only 36 percent said they use paid analytical or scheduling tools.

That means a lot of tweeting and posting in the dark, without a clear sense of whether the social-media activities are helping to build lead lists, bring in new clients, or close more sales. Or of which forms of social media activity are more worthwhile.

In all the frenzy -- and all the distraction of social media, with its funny videos and cute pet pictures -- some businesses may be losing track of the point.